For NBA Finals Tickets, A Long, Long Walk

Tyler McGill, 27, is walking close to 200 miles for free tickets to the NBA finals.

Carrying little more than an iPod, sunscreen and baby powder (for chafing), a New Hampshire man is making the roughly 200-mile trek between Boston and New York on foot to win a bet with friends and secure tickets to the NBA finals.

As Seacoastonline.com reports, Tyler McGill, 27, began his journey at midnight on Tuesday, having asked his brother to cover for him at the surf shop they run in the town of Rye, N.H. McGill must arrive in New York by Tuesday to secure a second-row ticket for games three, four and five of the NBA Finals in Boston.

McGill’s college friends secured extra tickets for the game and told McGill they would give him the tickets — valued at thousands of dollars — for free if he could walk the distance between the two cities before game three begins on June 8. They are trusting McGill to be honest about his journey (although they have asked him to send them pictures along the way).

The match-up between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers is among basketball’s greatest rivalries. A Celtics fan, McGill says he wants to attend the games mostly because he hates Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

As of 9p.m. on Wednesday night, McGill, who has survived mainly on Charleston Chews, water and energy drinks, had made it roughly 80 miles to Putnam, Conn., according to Seacoastonline.